Tom Cruise Allowed to Film in German Defense Ministry

Deutsche Welle, Germany/September 14, 2007

In a complete turnaround to an initial ban on US actor Tom Cruise to
film at a Berlin memorial to the men who tried to kill Adolf Hitler,
German government officials have now reportedly changed their minds.

German tabloid Bild reported on Friday, Sept. 14, that the makers of
"Valkyrie," a film about failed Hitler assassin Count Claus von
Stauffenberg, starring Cruise, will be allowed to shoot key scenes of
the movie in a courtyard of the German defense ministry. Stauffenberg
and his co-conspirators were executed there after the failed 1944
attempt to kill the Nazi dictator.

"There has been a change of mind at the defense ministry," Thorsten
Albig, a spokesman for the German finance ministry, which issues film
permits at government buildings, told the paper. "A new request by the
film team has received a positive answer."

Earlier this year, Cruise's plan to film at the Bendlerblock memorial
had been met with resistance from government officials.

According to news reports, German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung
had said that his ministry would not allow filming at the site after
one of his party colleagues had voiced concern over Cruise's
Scientology membership.

A lawmaker, who had originally urged government officials to deny any
request by the filmmakers to use the memorial site, called the
turnaround an "unfortunate decision.

"I would have wished for the ministry to stick to its original
decision," said Antje Blumenthal, a member of Jung's Christian
Democratic Union, in a press statement on Friday. She added that she
still believed that there were serious reasons to prohibit filming at
the site, but said that she would respect the decision.

In July, Albig had told reporters that the memorial's dignity would be
compromised by allowing a film crew to use it.

No Nazi flags allowed

According to a defense ministry spokesman, film director Brian Singer
and ministry officials will jointly visit the memorial to decide what
can be filmed there.

Bild reported that government officials will not allow the crew to
display Nazi flags at the site. The crew was permitted to fly the
flags at the German finance ministry, where filming took place in
August.

The tabloid said that the film script called for four scenes to be
shot at the memorial, including Stauffenberg's execution.

Cruise feels "great responsibility"

In an interview with German celebrity magazine Bunte in August, Cruise
had said he felt it was important that the movie was shot on original
locations instead of a studio set.

"We want the inner truth, so to speak, and location helps with that,"
he said, adding that he urged his critics to wait until they had seen
the film.

"I carry a great responsibility to the Germans, for whom a man like
Stauffenberg is of deep significance, and I feel this responsibility
to the man himself."

In an interview with DW-WORLD.DE, one of Stauffenberg's sons said that
he didn't like the fact that Cruise was going to play his father, but
added that he had taken no steps to prevent it from happening.

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